Cyprus - walk with the Cyprus Ramblers Club (CRC)

Way back, maybe in December, maybe before, Mick sent me links to some Cyprus walking clubs. Brian from the CRC responded to my e-mail and eventually put me in touch with Irina (a regular walker with the club who lives in Pissouri Bay). Finally, after e-mails and texts, we connected today and she picked me up at the Two Friends Restaurant parking lot for our walk.

A sunrise reward for the early alarm.

Pissouri in the early morning light.

The group walks on a Sunday, every 2 weeks, with a different member taking responsibility for the walk, and subsequent lunch arrangements each time.

 The Cyprus Ramblers can lay claim to being one of the oldest groups still flourishing within Cyprus. It all began back in 1970 when a handful of Royal Air Force families living in Limassol came up with the idea of going for a walk and a picnic somewhere out of town on Sundays and formed the Cyprus Services Rambling Club (CSRC).  Little could this original group of friends imagine that their club would still be run on basically the same lines so many years later.  However, since 2004 the numbers of Military personnel stationed in Cyprus have rapidly declined and today our group comprises mainly of local residents, which gives the Club a rich diversity of experience and interest. (from their website)

We drove up into the hills to meet a friend of Irina's because she (Irina) wasn't sure of the way. On the way we picked up another walker. Irina is originally from St Petersburg, Russia, and came to Cyprus when offered a job selling real estate to Russians. She met and married an Englishman and now they own 4 apartments in Pissouri Bay and rent 3 of them out to holidayers. Following her friend we drove up twisting mountain roads, past terraced vineyards and stone mountain villages until we came to a restaurant at the side of the road where we met the rest of the group.
I was introduced to Brian who explained if I joined the club I would get the e-mails with the walk instructions etc. So I joined, no cost, just a sharing of info. We used the "facilities" at the restaurant and then set out. I was told it was a Grade 3 walk (some climbing) of about 6 miles (10km) and just hoped I would be up for it.

The walk was basically a long gradual climb on a wide gravel track, occasionally fording small creeks making their way down the mountains. The views were magnificent.

There were about 40 of us. One member told me there can be anywhere from 20 to 60 out on a walk depending on the weather and the difficulty of the walk.

We could see the radar installation at the top of the mountain but were well below the snow line. Some people hiked in shorts and stripped down to tank tops and others were in winter coats. It was warm in the sun, cool in the shade of the pine trees.

We walked up to a picnic area, with a washroom (which was locked!) and sat in the sun briefly. 3 dogs came with us, 2 on leashes and 1 that was allowed to roam.

We walked back the way we had come. There are not many photos because this is a serious walking group, no dawdling, no stopping to look at the view. It is however a group that like to talk so I walked for a while with a man who had, sadly, just sold his sailboat. He had crewed at Cowes week and in the Fastnet Race a number of times, including the tragic 1979 race.

I also walked and talked with a woman who was taking art classes in Limassol, where each week she worked in a different medium and would ultimately create a collage of  everything she had produced. Another man was concerned about a feral kitten he had taken to the vet (75 euro later...) and it still wasn't eating.

When we got back to the restaurant everyone else prepared for a lovely lunch but Irina couldn't stay so we drove away. Now there was the challenge of finding our way home and luckily she had a GPS in the car. I was pleased to learn I am not the only one, as she argued with the GPS most of the way..."why are we turning left?" "no, we have just been to Trodos, we don't want to go to Trodos" "This doesn't seem right, (to me) do you think this seems right?" Because I had no clue where we were, I was, for once in my life, totally putting my trust in the GPS (well I had sometimes done that trailering in the States too). It got us home, to Pissouri, fine.
Tomorrow I pick up a rental car and then I will have the challenge of finding my way around this country, on narrow winding roads, with no street signs or signs I cannot read. Next adventure!